Finding Family
by Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay
Summary: Part of my Main Stream AU. Ever since Zahra Maolain and her sister were captured by the Empire while scavenging inside the Jedi Temple they have searched for their parents without success. With the Vuuzhan Vong in the fringes of the galaxy Zahra decides to search one last time for a hint of who they are. This would take place during Keeping the Light Burning


I am not completely sure where this came from but this was fun to write.

This takes part in my Main Stream AU during 'Keeping the Light Burning'.

Also Zahra appears in a chapter of one of my other fics 'Many Lifetimes'.

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Zahra Maolain knew that she should stop her search with a war going on. But for now it was in Wild Space and the few Vong that could be here would be in for a surprise. Not only could she Sense them well but she was well trained in the hand to hand combat. She had the Emperor to thank for putting her on that path as a six standard year old child.

She barely remembered her parents; they were dark figures in a darker room. But she remembered that her mother had beautiful light brown hair and eyes the color of a corcra flower; pretty violet flower native to Scáthia. Her father had been strong with bronze hair and eyes the same color as hers.

The night that she and her little sister had been captured by Imperial Forces was one of her worst memories. Her father worked two jobs and her mother served tables in a place that served both food and alcoholic drinks. They had been trying to save enough credits to bribe a pilot to take them back to Scáthia since both their little girls were Force Sensitive.

Zahra remembered that she would scavenge for mechanical things to sell so they could earn credits faster. She still remembered when Kalena, a pale yellow twi'lek that worked with her mom, told her of a good place to go to scavenge for parts and a few things more valuable than some wires and computer components: the Jedi Temple.

Kalena said that she and her brother Roan used to go in the forbidden area to scavenge until they had gotten too big to slip through the small hole made by an accident that had been made a little bigger and then craftily disguised with a piece of durasteel and a few chunks of rubble.

Roan had agreed to not only show her the place but to wait in a speeder a few levels down every time she wanted to scavenge in the Temple. He only asked to look at what she found and decide if there was a piece he wanted. He had even been her go between when they found Jedi things. If they were holocrons he would find a buyer if it was a personal belonging he would find a way to sell it to the next of kin.

Looking back on it Zahra was a little ashamed of her actions but she had been a young child trying to help get her family off Coruscant.

When her little sister was three Zahra had started to take her scavenging in a few different places to help Karai learn what they were searching for and then how to dodge anyone that might be looking for scavengers.

In a short amount time she felt okay about taking Karai into the Jedi Temple. They had only been scavenging together for a few weeks when they had been captured by storm troopers and a servant of Emperor inside of the Temple.

Zahra and Karai had tried to escape but it had only alerted them to the fact that they were Force Sensitive. That night had been the last time she had seen anyone besides her sister from her life before.

For about three years she and Karai had lived and trained under the watchful eyes of those that the Emperor had trained. Now and then the Emperor himself had come to see to their progress.

The day the Rebellion had won at Endor had been one of the best days of her life. Unfortunately she didn't remember her parents' names or where they had lived in the Underworld.

The authorities had searched for their parents but their DNA had been erased from the system or restrictions had been placed on them so the search had to done manually. They could never be sure if either of them had been registered in any system before their time in the Emperor's care of if the records had been altered.

The next step that authorities had done was release the information they had on both Zahra and her sister in hopes of finding family members or anyone that might have known them. 'Zahra' however was one of the most common female names on Scáthia and 'Karai' wasn't her sister's real name; Zahra couldn't remember it but knew that she called her that because she couldn't yet pronounce it.

There had been a couple Scáth couples that had two daughters that were roughly their ages that had disappeared while visiting Coruscant had come to see them but in the end all it led to was tears for everyone.

She had long ago stopped using the surname 'Shade' that the Emperor and assigned to her even though Karai still used it.

Zahra had forgotten a long time ago how many times she had prayed to Éire, the Bandia Solas that she would finally find her parents. Éire hadn't yet given her what she needed to find her parents but someone else had come into her life and changed it for the better: Murchadh Maolain.

She had met a Force Sensitive Scáth one day when she had been walking in Uisce Bright a park in Álainn, the Capital city on Scáthia: Murchadh Maolain.

Zahra didn't believe in love at first sight, true love or other kind of foolishness but she did believe in finding the leath eile a anam: the other half of her soul. Murchadh and her just clicked; she had just fallen in love with how gentle he was and how good he was with other people.

His real power was being able to see through the eyes of someone who had had last touched an object. Lucky for him he could pick and choose if he saw or not; she had heard stories of those that either couldn't turn off the ability or never learned how to block that had been driven insane.

He had wanted to learn how to control his powers and so she had made a deal with him: if he wanted to train as a Jedi Knight she would train with him and together they would help others.

They married shortly after they were promoted to Knights and within days of returning to Coruscant they were helping the Jedi Order with some public relations. Zahra had lost count of how many times she had answered questions from reporters, senators, company leaders and regular citizens.

They had been blessed with two healthy children and a third one that was slowly beginning to make herself known.

Zahra still made time to descend into the Underworld every so often to continue to search for her parents. Every so often she and Murchadh would descend into different parts of the Underworld to search for any leads.

She did wonder if perhaps her parents were dead or thought that she and Karai were dead but she had to know.

The mag-lev she was one came to a stop and she stepped off. Almost immediately she recognized the platform; she could almost see a tall Scáth woman holding the hands of two small Scáth Younglings.

For a moment she paused and wished that she hadn't decided to do this without Murchadh. He was visiting his family on Scáthia with Malak and Aonghus before they all headed for Eras. Murchadh wanted to comfort his sister, Móirín, in person as Móirín's daughter Jamila slowly gave in to the degenerative disease that had slowly been claiming her life before she had a chance to live.

Zahra couldn't help but feel for Móirín as Jamila died. Móirín loved her daughter and Jamila knew and felt it so she struggled to hold on for her mother. It was something Zahra admired about her young niece: never giving up no matter the pain. Who would have thought that a tiny being could inspire so many. It had been the same with Ana before the cancerous tumors and the treatments became too much for her ravaged body.

It took a moment to gather her courage before she continued on. The dim streets were almost familiar but than if these streets were the same ones that she had walked as a child than they would have changed and she was an adult now.

Suddenly she paused; she could hear music coming from a nearby building. Turning she entered a grill and bar that seemed as familiar street outside.

Zahra could almost hear a gentle, loving voice she barely remembered tell her to behave and look after her little sister.

Seeing that this place had little order to it; it seemed to be more of a cantina or something like that instead of most of the eateries that she was familiar with.

Slowly she moved around the area looking at the different displays. So far they were anything from holo dramas to holos from the Clone Wars to memorials for what she would guess were workers or family members.

One memorial caught her attention in particular: a holo showed two female Scáth Younglings smiling and playing. Around it were a few containers of a hot sauce called 'karai' and some still holos of a korralura perched on a cliff on Scáthia or eating some sútha talún berries. A date caught her attention and she noted that it was about three years before the fall of the Empire; the same year or there about she and her sister had been captured by the Empire.

Zahra stepped closer and read the names on the holo: Zahra and Khayriyya Brogan; six and three years old.

"Sad about the Brogan girls," a female voice said behind her. Zahra had Sensed the woman but hadn't acknowledged the woman's Presence sooner to not frighten her. "It all happened around the destruction of Alderaan and the destruction of the first Death Star; they were scavenging metal, components and other such junk to help pay for transport off Coruscant. Security Forces said that they had either been scavenging inside a trash compactor a few levels up or had fallen in it some ho and were crushed when it began it's cycle. Khalid and Saoirse were heartbroken when they were informed what had become of their daughters. The girls had been missing for three days when an Imperial Officer came in with a squad of storm troopers and informed Saoirse that service droids had found Zahra and Khayriyya's crushed remains among some garbage in a trash compactor. He told Saoirse what they thought and asked why they were scavenging. Saoirse said that Zahra had been trying to help them save credits to move back to Scáthia and have a place to live. Saoirse and Khalid left Coruscant shortly after they were given their daughters' remains." The pale yellow twi'lek informed her.

"Did you know them?" Zahra asked.

The twi'lek nodded sadly.

"Khayriyya was so sweet and Zahra was a good big sister." The twi'lek smiled fondly. "Zahra loved to sing this one Scáthian children's song in Basic and she had the habit of singing it a certain way. The song was-"

"Korralura," Zahra said, interrupting the twi'lek. "Her favorite song was Korralura; and when she sang 'sing, Korralura sing' she would mime singing. She would sing it when she was scared because her father had told her that the korralura wasn't afraid of anything."

The female twi'lek's eyes were wide. Slowly her mouth started to move and asked "Zahra?"

"Kalena?" Zahra asked; the Force confirmed what she suspected: that this was Kalena from before.

The twi'lek, Kalena, started to cry. "We were told you were dead but now it all makes sense. We all suspected that you were Force Sensitive like Khayriyya was. If the Empire had found you of course they would lie about what happened to you at the least. Is Khayriyya . . . ." Kalena trailed off; obviously afraid of the answer.

"She's alive, we are Jedi Knights now. Khayriyya has her own apprentice now. I help answer questions about the Order." Zahra answered her.

Before Zahra knew it Kalena pulled her into a Wookiee Hug.

"Thank the Force!" Kalena cried. "Your parents should still be on Scáthia."

Zahra couldn't stop her tears and she didn't want to.

"Thank you." She whispered.

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Murchadh Maolain sat on a bench in Maireachtáil Glas Park not far from his sister Móirín's home. He had held her as she cried and did his best to assure her that she was doing her best for Jamila.

He watched his son and daughter play within arm's reach. He knew that Malak and Aonghus should have been on Eras a week ago but for just a little longer he wanted them close. His wife would be staying with the children on Eras while he would only be with them a few weeks before he would return to Coruscant to help in whatever way he could.

A sudden noise caught the attention of the children and they looked up and smiled. "Korralura!" They both shrieked in excitement. Murchadh had Sensed the bird but he couldn't help the smile that he had on his face. He had been that innocent once upon a time.

"Korralura flies in the sky so high; lovely, lovely queen of the cliffs is she. Sing, Korralura sing, Korralura so proud you must be. Korralura flies in the sky so high; sweet berries catch her eye. Wait, Korralura wait, Korralura please wait for me." Malak sang with childish enthusiasm. She even mimed singing like her mother did. The gesture was unique to Aillte, a region on Scáthia; one that Zahra and her sister were suspected to be from but no one there were missing two daughters.

"My daughter, Zahra, used to love that song." An older Scáth woman with eyes the same color of a corcra flower commented softly. Murchadh looked at the older woman; Sensing her sorrow she felt at the memories of her daughter.

"Tat's mommy's name!" Aonghus said proud that he knew his mother's name. It was something that Zahra had insisted on.

The old woman smiled sadly. "There's a lot of Scáth woman with that name." She told Aonghus.

"What happened to her?" Malak asked slowly.

"She died in an accident with her little sister." The woman said slowly; her voice sounded broken.

"My mommy lost her parents. The Empire caught her and her sister while they were scavenging for parts to sell for credits to come to here. When the Empire fell the authorities couldn't find them." Malak informed the woman. "My aunt likes karai sauce and that's what my mommy called her because she couldn't pronounce her real name."

Murchadh Sensed a change in the older woman; she was cautiously hopeful. "Are they Force Sensitive?" she whispered.

He nodded slowly. "Both my wife and her sister are Jedi Knights. My wife was about six years old when she was captured by the Empire and her sister was three. It was shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star that they were captured while in the Jedi Temple."

Before he could lose his nerve Murchadh reached into the bag next to him and retrieved a holo album of his family and found a colored still family holo. He showed the woman and then cycled to one of Zahra and her sister shortly after the fall of the Empire.

He let the woman take the holo album from him and watched as she started to look at random holos. Finally she paused on the one taken some time after Zahra and Karai had been delivered at the Imperial Compound. It showed Zahra wearing a dark gray child's tunic with pants the same color. Zahra's blue-green eyes were wide with fear and her white blonde hair was in a tight single braid hanging down her back with a homemade corcra flower barrette over the beginning of the braid.

After a minute she moved to the one of Karai. The woman seemed to be studying a bracelet around Karai's right wrist.

The woman began to cry. Murchadh knew it was tears of joy.

"When the Imperial Officer came to inform me that Zahra and Khayriyya had been killed in a trash compactor they gave me the bracelet and the corcra flower barrette I had made my daughters for Solas Nua. They were an apology for not letting their skin shift to lighter colors. The Empire told us that they didn't know how two little girls had gotten into the trash compactor but that they had cremated their remains because they were mangled that badly. They did say that they had managed to save some of their hair and had cleaned it as well as the bracelet and the barrette. Within a few days Khalid, my husband, and I bought tickets to return to Scáthia.

"We heard about the two Scáth Younglings but we didn't want to think that they could be our little girls. We were too afraid of reopening those wounds and I had already prayed to Aoife, the Bandia na Marbh to not hurt me anymore and that those poor girls would find their family. Zahra is such a common name after all. It looks like Éire answered my silent prayers for my daughters.

Murchadh hugged her as he cried.

Éire had certainly answered many prayers.

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'Korralura' is based on and to the tune of the Australian children's song 'Kookaburra'. It is one of my favorite children's songs. One of my favorite parts is to mime laughing when I reach that part of the song.


End file.
